Islamic rappers' message of terror

The Observer ^ | February 8, 2004 | Antony Barnett

[sarcasm]

It's rap, jihad-style. A music video with blood-curdling images, fronted by a young British Muslim rapper brandishing a gun and a Koran is the latest hit in radical Islamic circles.

The rap song is called 'Dirty Kuffar' - Arabic for dirty non-believer - and it praises Osama bin Laden and the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York.

The video has recently been posted on the British website run by the Islamic extremist Mohammed al-Massari, the UK-based Saudi Arabian dissident who has lived in Britain since 1994. Al-Massari claims that the video has been selling in large quantities at mosques to the younger generation and is in heavy demand overseas.

The rapper fronting the video calls himself Sheikh Terra and the Soul Salah Crew - a take on the rap group So Solid Crew. 'Salah' is Arabic for faith.

The video might at first be mistaken for an Ali G spoof, but the violent images quickly reveal it is no joke.

The song starts with images of US marines in Iraq cheering as one of them shoots a wounded Iraqi lying on the floor. At the end of the video, it features shots of the hijacked planes flying into the Twin Towers with sounds of the rappers laughing. There is then a list of 56 countries they claim have been the 'victims of American aggression' since 1945.

The four-minute rap is essentially a repeated diatribe against the 'dirty non-believers' Tony Blair and George Bush, urging listeners to 'throw them on the fire'.

One of the most brutal images shows a jihadist fighter in Chechnya riddling a captured Russian soldier with a Kalashnikov. Another image labels Pakistan president General Pervez Musharraf a traitor and shows photographs of Colin Powell and Condeleezza Rice with the words 'still slaves' superimposed across their bodies.

Labour MP Andrew Dismore said he was 'disgusted' by the video and is to refer it to the Home Office and ask the police to investigate if any offence has been committed.

Dismore said: 'These extremist are using music and video to prey on young and impressionable Muslim boys in order to attract them to their brand of lunacy and entice them to commit acts of terror. It is inexcusable.'

The website on which the video was originally posted is run by the Committee for the Defence of Legitimate Rights in Saudi Arabia, a group run by al-Massari who came to Britain in 1994 after being imprisoned by the Saudi regime.

He said: 'A boy came to me and showed me the video and I thought the content was good, although I am no expert on rap. I thought it was an excellent attempt to use modern methods to get a message across.'

Al-Massari did not see a problem in using Western music and MTV-like images to sell a message of jihad. He said that it was an effective way of attracting young Muslims who had been put off by other Islamic sects such as the Taliban, which banned music and dancing. 'I do not know of any young Muslim who has not either seen or got this video. It is selling everywhere. Everyone I meet at the mosque is asking for it.'

Al-Massari denied that the messages in the video incited Muslims to take part in terrorist attacks against the West.

He said: 'I believe the lyrics are only metaphorical. It is not like this is a fatwa.'

In November 2002, al-Massari circulated a 4,000-word message allegedly from Osama bin Laden. In 2001, al-Massari was granted permanent residence in Britain, five years after Michael Howard, then Conservative Home Secretary, tried to deport him.

Excerpt from 'Dirty Kuffar'
Peace to Hamas and the Hizbollah
OBL [bin-Laden] pulled me like a shiny star
Like the way we destroyed them two towers ha-ha
The minister Tony Blair, there my dirty Kuffar
The one Mr Bush, there my dirty Kuffar...
Throw them on the fire

[expatguy]

I copied you in, It was not "directed" at you.

This thread is what inspired the rant.

I am an American who has lived and worked overseas for much of my life. Because of my "overseas experience" I dont get much of a chance to come back much, although I do come back to visit my family during Christmas.

This is just one of a thousand threads that shows how much the rest of the world hates the USA. It hurts me to read keep reading these because I believe there is a solution and yet so many can't seem to see it even though it is so very clear from here. I have a different perspective I suppose and I see things from an external viewpoint.

I love my country and I am always willing to share that love with someone new, someone from somewhere else. Whether Im discussing Texas barbeque or Chicago blues I always am proud of where I come from.

There is however another type of American though, the angry American. This is the one who travels overseas and has nothing good to say about America. He organizes with others and tells suspicious foreigners what their itching ears want to hear. He tells them that all their suspicions are correct, all of the world's problems are caused by the United States. They believe him, after all he should know, he is an American.

This is where people like these Islamic rappers come from. They have nothing nice to say because they have never heard anything nice. What they know about America is what they hear from angry Americans and from CNN and MTV.

This rapper's video opens with a story from CNN. Think about it. The message we broadcast to the world is being used against us and there is no counter balance.

There is no pro-america message getting out. There is no message of hope. I can pick a random person off the street where I live and ask them what they think of America. It wont be good.

The "Voice of America" is no longer being heard. The message is no longer getting out. The delivery method of radio broadcasts might have served us good in the past, but they are really no longer effective.

The solution I believe is for our government to set up "cell groups" in foreign countries and deliver the message personally. Too much money is being spent on television and radio. Do you realize that our government is still using shortwave radio?!!

Like everyone else here, I am frustrated, frustrated that my voice is not being heard.

[expatguy]

You made a very good point. People like Michael Moore is the face of the "ugly american". He has found a niche market selling anti-americanism and hatred to the world.

People like these Islamic rappers gobble up every line. They can tell you in fine detail all about how Dick Cheney was once the CEO of Halliburton but they have no idea how many billions in aid the USA gives to Africa.

[weegee]

I hear that European CNN has been much more critical of the US than American CNN. I do not have cable and do not know which version aired the clips used in this music video.

[weegee]

In recent years VOA got co-opted and even it was beaming reports biased against America (under the guise of being "impartial"). There was an FR thread about it a year or 2 ago (you may find it searching the archives).

[weegee]

Michael Moore has shown himself to be an effective con man; he's a rich anticapitalist who owns million dollar mansions.

[expatguy]

CNN where I live is painful to watch. They try very hard to not identify thmeselves as American.

I was absolutely dumbfounded a while back when they had an interview with Madeline Albright and the interviewer was fawning all over her and asking her what advise she would give to President Bush.

[texasflower]

I am impressed by your passion and love of this country. It is obvious that this is something that really touches your heart, as it does mine.

I am hopeful that our young men and women serving overseas, in posts all over the world are doing their part to help.

Just a few minutes ago I read an article about court martialing for three reservists that abused a prisoner and he died.

Thank God those sort of episodes are very rare. I think overall, we have our very best representing us in areas of the world that have been told horrible things about the US all their lives.

Not just in Afghanistan and Iraq, but in all of their posts around the world. I read a nice article the other day that quoted a German official giving a very heartwarming speech to some American soldiers stationed there, that were deploying to Iraq. He wanted to tell them how much he thought of them and how much he wanted them to return to Germany. Sure part of that was to benefit Germany, but still he sounded very sincere.

People like you and our military can do great things for us as our representatives in faraway places.

Unfortunately I don't know what we can do about people like Michael Moore, Johnny Depp, Gwyneth and so on.

I hope that some of our friends here on FR from other countries can see past some of "less than satisfied" posters.

If you find a situation where I might be able to help, whether it be a phone call, letter to the editor or email to someone in one of the places you find yourself in, just freepmail me.

Tammy

[weegee]

Why we fight in Iraq/Afghanistan BUMP.

Where is a Frank Capra documentary filmmaker when we need one?

[weegee]

But I thought that muslims didn't dance and cheer when the WTC buildings were destroyed. This music video proves otherwise.

[Prodigal Son]

You are obviously upset but I'm not sure what you saw posted on this thread that would have inspired that.

I liked his rant. It wasn't directed at you. He's not accusing you of anything that I can tell. I post rants like this sometimes too. It's just a way of relating experiences. It's good.

[weegee]

So has anyone else on this thread downloaded the video?

[Prodigal Son]

I looked at it. The links are on another thread.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1074390/posts

Post number 10 on that thread.

[CrazyIvan]

Isn't the purpose of this internal recruitment? The swing music broadcast was for our troops. I'm sure that the Nazis considered it decadent. The Hitler Youth probably got their fill of Wagnerian manifest destiny.

[weegee]

This video was for Islamofascist recruiting. America has had some recruits in bin Laden's army and this video is being used in England. What is an "internal recruit"? This video does not just get played for sons of the exhiled Taliban in Afghanistan.

Back to my example... There was pro-Nazi propaganda swing music that was used to defeat the morale of allied troops and civilians. It was really insideous because many big band songs were played as instrumentals so once you heard the Nazis' parody that could be the version playing on your mind.

I've only heard excerpts from a few such recordings on a tape that collected odd radio broadcasts.

Here's a book that I just discovered while talking with you about this topic:

Hitler's Airwaves: The Inside Story of Nazi Radio Broadcasting and Propaganda Swing by Rainer E. Lotz (Contributor), Horst J. P. Bergmeier

And the Amazon description:

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews
The previously untold story of how the Nazi war machine used jazz and swing for propaganda. Independent scholars Bergmeier and Lotz have succeeded in crafting a work that will appeal to both a specialized audience and the general public. Most people know that jazz and swing were immediately banned upon Hitler's ascension to power in 1933. Swing represented the decadent society of America, while jazz threatened the racial purity of the Aryan race. A deep-rooted anti-Semitism underlay these attitudes: Swing was one component of modernism (``the refuse of a rotting society''); and jazz was being used by the Jews to corrupt the Aryan race through ``musical race defilement.'' Music at the home front had to conform to the traditionalist tastes of Hitler and the Nazi elite, but when it came to propaganda aimed at foreign countries, swing and jazz seemed the perfect bait. Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels was always sensitive to the enormous influence of the radio, which he viewed as second only to the press as the ``most effective weapon in our struggle for existence.'' Strictly speaking, the book's title is misleading; only one of the eight chapters deals with jazz and swing radio propaganda. Four chapters offer a historical introduction to the propaganda ministry and the development of radio in Germany after WW I. An additional chapter reviews the well-known rivalry within the Nazi hierarchy over propaganda; and the final two chapters deal with Nazi radio broadcasts over Europe. The authors have made good use of previously unseen documents to reconstruct the Nazi effort to use music as propaganda. The CD accompanying the book includes catchy tunes (such as a jazzy ``Onward Christian Soldiers'' with new, anti-Semitic lyrics) and original radio broadcasts. A fascinating footnote to the history of the Nazi propaganda machine. (40 illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Synopsis
Jazz was banned from German broadcasting as soon as the Nazis came to power in 1933. Yet throughout World War II, American jazz and swing were core components of the Third Reich's propaganda. Jazz classics such as W.C. Handy's famous "St. Louis Blues", their lyrics neatly tampered with, came over the airwaves, alongside the famous "Germany Calling" programmes directed at Britain and allied forces around the world. "Hitler's Airwaves" sets Goebbels' propaganda orchestra, a swing band fronted by the crooner, Karl ("Charlie") Schwedler, within the context of the Reich Ministry for Propaganda. This book-length study of the full extent of the Nazi propaganda effort, it draws on a vast array of material: interviews with contemporaries and treason trail transcripts, the private archive of Roderich Dietze, wartime head of German radio's English-language service, reports of the BBC's monitoring service, recently declassified FBI and M15 files, and documents in the Bonn Foreign Ministry, the Bundesarchiv and the former Berlin Document Centre. Bergmeier and Lotz explore the origins of subversive radio broadcasting, describe the establishment of Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry and the rapid growth of its foreign-language broadcasting division, and provide a detailed anatomy of its organization, operation and personnel. They examine the workings of the so-called "Secret Stations", ostensibly run by opposition groups broadcasting from inside target countries, but actually based in the Berlin Olympic stadium. And they reveal the scam of Radio Arnhem which, for several months in 1944-5, the Germans passed off as a genuine Allied forces programme. Interwoven with the narrative are biographies of key figures and leading foreign expatriates in the service of the Reich, including William Joyce ("Lord Haw Haw"), John Amery (son of a minister in Churchill's war cabinet), Norman Baille Stewart, Midge Gillars ("Axis Sally") and Douglas Chandler. The book is illustrated with diagrams and illustrations, and includes a CD sampler featuring rare tracks of "Charlie and his Orchestra" and other contemporary broadcast material. A comprehensive account of the range, dexterity and ingenuity of Nazi public relations, it should provoke anyone interested in the history of World War II.

[swarthyguy]

Sometimes Americans are just being polite by agreeing with their hosts. They're well aware of the stereotype of the rude American and wish to avoid being one.

Sometimes people play tricks like getting increasing critical of the US to see what is the person's breaking point.

I've often kept my mouth shut, but enough times have spoken up and ridiculed or pointed out the error in their statements. That usually gets some respect. Or laughter, as in we wanted to see how far we could go.

Politeness is good but not to the point of emasculation.